Mei'A Ub Te'Kie, Meia the Fireheart
by HellbirdIV
Summary: Months after the defeat of the Harvest fleet over Mejerr, a simple three hour recognisance mission pits Dread Leader Meia Gisborn against a strange anomaly in space, but before backup arrives, it shatters her out of existance... AU/Meia-centered *Updated*
1. Prologue: Gilligan's Island

**Mei'A Ub Te'Kie – ****Meia the Fireheart**

_Disclaimer; I do not own VanDread or any related characters, locations or other__. _

_The story is rated T for significant violence, torture, mild- to not-so-mild sexual themes. The story contains frequent sentences of un-translated non-English languages, and is focused on Meia exploring a different Science-fiction universe, created by yours truly._

**Prologue****; Gilligan's Island**

A goddess-damned three hour recognizance mission. Who would send one of the VanDread pilots – A Dread squadron-leader on that – on a rubbish assignment like this?

Meia spat and cursed loudly as her Dread dove through the uncharted wild spaces of the edge of the Galaxy, feeling fairly gratuitous that Misty wasn't there to hear her. Would be bad influence on the kid.

A little less than two months had passed since the destruction of the Earth Harvest Fleet above Mejerr and Taraak, and the exchange program between the two worlds was a complete disaster still. Meia had a harder time than most of the Nirvana's crew to stay optimistic about it, but tried her best to believe that change would eventually come.

In the meantime, Meia more than others was worried that Earth's fleet was far from defeated, and regular patrol missions were taken to ensure none of the despicable Harvest ships intruded into the still fragile alliance's territory. Eventually, the task would have to fall on her.

She recalled leaving for her Dread, having to shove Misty into a seat to keep her from following her. While Meia liked Misty, and was somewhat fond of the role as a big sister, the energetic girl got on her nerves with even intervals. She reckoned that might be the way Hibiki felt about Dita the first months of the Nirvana's journey.

For the briefest moment, Meia tried to remember where she'd last seen the two, but was shaken out of her train of thought by a resounding impact to her Dread's hull. Snapping to attention, she grimaced as she saw the remains of one of the Harvest fleet's cube-drones floating limply ahead of her Dread.

Continuing on past the debris, Meia noted that it must've been afloat for all this time to get this far out, and then gave up that train of thought as well.

Suddenly, a flicker of light caught her attention. It flashed only a few hundred kilometers ahead of her, switching between red, green and blue. The glow easily outshone the stars, and, alarmed, Meia sped up, activating her communications as she accelerated towards the light.

-"Nirvana, come in. This is Meia." she almost hissed, gritting her teeth as she drove her Dread's speed to its limits so she could discover the source of this mysterious light.

_-"__Onee-chan? I hear you!"_ she heard a familiar, bright voice respond.

-"Misty. I need BC on, now."

_-"Oh… Eh,__ r-roger."_

After a short pause, during which Meia noted the hint of disappointment in Misty's voice, BC's voice boomed over the speakers.

_-"What is the matter, Meia?"_

-"I've found… Something." Meia stated matter-of-factly, -"It's a bright light, shifting in colours… I'm moving in for a closer look, but I'd like to request some backup. I have a bad feeling about this."

_-"Affirmative, Meia. I'll dispatch Jura and Dread team one to your position."_

-"Hibiki and Dita not on board? I'd feel a lot safer with that artillery at my back."

_-"Sorry Meia, you'll just have to make do. Whatever you do, don't engage whatever is emitting that light.__ Nirvana out."_

Meia slowed down, almost to a stop, holding her position to wait for the reinforcements.

As time passed, Meia grew weary. She knew her friends were on their way, but the light seemed to come closer every second. She placed her hands on her controls again, intending to turn her fighter about and keep some distance, but she never did get that far.

As soon as her hands closed around her controls, the light seemed to explode before her. Massive arcs of lightning, vortexes of energy and whipping appendages of light thrashed around the light as it raced towards her, paralyzing her completely with the dazzling light in every colour of the spectrum all at once, and perhaps even some she didn't even know existed.

Meia screamed at the top of her lungs as the raging blasts of light engulfed her and the Dread. Her scream was amplified a hundred or perhaps a thousand times by the swirling chaos within the vortex, the sound feeling as if it crushed her very bones. She felt a sharp, searing pain in her eyes, as if they had exploded in their sockets. She tried to feel if they were still there, but her body was going numb, starting with her hands and feet, working its way up her arms.

She couldn't tell if she saw it or if it was imprinted directly into her brain, as the very fabric of space seemed to open up, like a dagger slicing through a cloth blanket, more light flooding out through the rupture, blinding her completely.

As she felt her body begin to disintegrate, each molecule leaping out from her and into the rift, she heard Jura's voice over the comm, amplified into a horrendous shriek;

_-"MEIA!"_

Then, Meia's world finally went entirely black.


	2. Chapter I: I Disappear

_Disclaimer; I do not own VanDread or any related trademarks. I do, however, possess creative rights to the Zûram Republic and Terran Empire, as created for the Terra Invicta universe._

**Chapter I: I Disappear**

Slowly but securely, the _Do'Vore K'Kor_, or "_Great Wind of Blood_", crossed through the scarcely populated Outlands, bordering the Outer Rim in the Terran Empire and the Rim Systems in the Zûram Republic.

Zûram Commander Yardano Shishival straightened his posture as he strolled across the bridge of the _Wind_, humming a tune he had learned in his childhood, sometime a hundred and fifty years ago.

Running his hands across the outline of one of the ship's monitors, Yardano sighed deeply. A shadow behind him caught his attention and he turned around to face one of his bridge officers, Kuraio Makshival. The tall Makshival had a concerned look on his bright face, his golden eyes flaring, emphasizing the beads of sweat.

-"Commander, we have picked up a strange anomaly at the edge of the system. It seemed to be a hyperspace rupture at first but it's much bigger, and far more powerful." the tall officer said in their own language.

-"Show me." the Commander responded immediately, and the officer complied by tapping shortly on the screen the Commander had recently been looking at, showing an image of a what appeared to be a massive, multicoloured hyperspace window, swirling and burning as if it was on fire in the void.

-"All hands, take your battlestations. Bring us closer to the anomaly and prepare all batteries to fire." the Commander barked, stepping up to the bridge's windows. While they were actually viewscreens displaying instant feeds through cameras outside the hull, he could still see clearly how the anomaly was becoming visible to his eagle-like eyes.

As the _Do'Vore_ came within weapons-range, the anomaly had stopped expanding, simply lying floating in space as if dormant, the flashes and arcs of lightning disappearing slowly, seeming as if it calmed down, if such a term could apply.

-"Commander, we are detecting some activity inside the window." another of his bridge officers announced.

-"Can you confirm that it is a window?" he responded.

-"Yes Commander. It is not a regular hyperspace window, but it is definitely a rupture in normalspace. If I may, Commander, we could be looking at an intergalactic hyperspace window."

-"All batteries, be ready to fire on my command. the Commander announced with renewed vigour." If the Extragalactic enemies of the Zûram were attempting to return, he wouldn't allow them even enter the Milky Way Galaxy.

-"Commander, a ship has emerged from the window. It… Hold your fire! the helmsman suddenly yelled, uncharacteristically sudden and loud for a Zûram, Hold your fire! It is but a lone fighter craft, we may yet be able to capture it."

-"What are you talking about, Tenusko?" Kuraio asked, tilting his head in doubt.

-"There are no other ships emerging from the window, it… It's closing. That fighter is all that came through."

-"Are you sure?" Commander Yardano asked sternly.

-"As a Terran would say, Commander, "I'd bet my left tit on it"."

-"Thank you for that painting description, Tenusko. Very well, bring us within gravity beam range and cancel full readiness. Keep twelve forward batteries primed and ready as a precaution."

The _Do'Vore_ quickly closed in to the small, clear white ship, which hung loosely in the void, as if it was waiting to be picked up. After life-signs scans came up with one life-sign, the Zûram ruled out the possibility of the fighter being an elaborate bomb meant to detonate inside their ship, as it was commonly known to them that Extragalactics were too cowardly for a suicide run. As such, they brought it on board.

-"Commander, my preliminary analysis of the ship indicates that it is very primitive. It is not on-par with the Extragalactics." the deck-officer in the hangar they had escorted the ship to – Ialkoso Makdekui – announced with some contempt in his voice. As a technician, he had a bad habit to look down on inferior technology, and the species that used it.

-"Open it. I want to see the pilot." the Commander ordered.

The small starfighter looked like nothing Zûram or Imperial that Yardano recognized. It was sharp, almost spiky, but also long and gleaming with bright white and blue coloration. Zûram vessels tended to be smooth and rounded, while Terran vessels used to be far bulkier than this one.

With a light effort, the deck officer managed to pull open the canopy with his hands, and repulsed back in fear at the sight.

-"It-... It is a human! Commander, the Terrans have acquired extragalactic hyperdrives!"

Just as he held contempt for inferior technology, Ialkoso had a great deal of respect for technology that was beyond him, and understandably, a great fear for such technology in the hands of his enemies.

The Commander stepped forward, unceremoniously shoving the technician aside as he looked into the ship's cockpit. The sight surprised him, but then made him burst out in laughter.

-"It is a child, Ialkoso you coward! Look at her! She is two heads shorter than an adult!" he laughed.

The technician peeked over Yardano's shoulder, and nodded slowly as he came to his senses.

-"You… You are correct, Commander. I apologize. But this does not explain how she came here, or where this ship is from."

-"Find out as much as you can about the ship. Only take apart what you can put back together, I want this delivered to Command in pristine condition. I will take the human for interrogation."

-"I will try to refrain from the urge to tear it apart to find out how it generated that window." Ialkoso responded with a respectful bow as the Commander lifted the tiny human out of the ship and carried her away, escorted by his Shah'Mei bodyguard.

Hours later, Commander Yardano was contacted by his chief medical officer, Likaso Meladir, with the simple phrase, 'She is awake'.

--

Meia slowly opened her eyes. Her whole body ached as if every bone in her body was broken and every inch of her skin was sliced apart. Her sight was blurred, and she closed her eyes from the pain the bright lights above her caused, realising that seeing wasn't going to help much. Her ears rung, her lungs felt as if they had ruptured, making breathing painful, but luckily not difficult.

She tried to speak, but could only feel a pained, pathetic whimper exit her throat, so silent that the ringing in her ears drowned it. Slowly, however, the pain in her bones dissipated. Her skin, her lungs, her ears, everything seemed to calm down, and she felt horrendously relieved that it was over. She opened her eyes again, carefully, viewing her surroundings.

She realised now that she was restrained. There were no ropes or chains, just an immense, invisible weight pressing her body down to whatever she was lying on. To further antagonize her, she noticed that she was naked. Carefully she managed to raise her head to get a further look around. She was in a well lit, clear-white room, with smooth walls ornamented with intricate shapes and signs.

There was a large window on her left, and what appeared to be a large round door behind where she lay. Through the window, she saw the blurry outlines of what appeared to be people. Pretty large people. Pretty damn huge people.

Struggling vainly to free herself, she found that whatever was holding her down was not even physical, quite possibly some sort of intense gravity, and she gave up.

She looked to the people on the other side of the glass again. Their eyes seemed to glow, and their shape didn't seem entirely right. She heard mumblings, and from their gesticulation she assumed that they were discussing rather fervently, all the while observing her – in all her butt-naked splendour - through the glass. For the briefest moment, she found herself hoping this wasn't an "anal probing"-type of alien abduction.

The door behind her swooped open, completely silently, and the two tall aliens stepped inside. She had a hard time getting a good look at first, until they stepped up next to her, still observing her from a safe distance of perhaps a meter and a half.

They were more than two meters tall, one of them considerably taller than the other. The taller one wore an ornamented golden armor, lined with white and silver, and had blazing red eyes, while the smaller one wore a bright blue set of clothes, and had brightly green eyes. The taller one had darkly grey skin while the smaller one had a whitish-blue tone to his, with hints of dark blue dots across it. Their faces possessed two eyes, but they had little features across their faces. Their noses were flat, simply a thin fold of flesh with two slits on the underside, and their slim mouths were similar, hanging on the underside of their faces, giving them a strange, noble appearance. They looked calm, in a strange, reassuring way.

Their skin appeared smooth, like that of a sea mammal, like a dolphin, and their legs were joined backwards, like a cat's. She couldn't see their feet, but figured they were different from human feet to support such legs. Their hands were large, but slender, with long fingers, and in the case of the tall one were decorated with golden rings connected by golden wires. Like humans, they had four fingers and a thumb per hand, in an identical setup. All in all, however, they seemed less alien than she had first imagined.

-"Ra N Dier T Ju Terran…" the shorter alien announced, to the taller one.

-"Ka." the taller one responded.

-"Za Aka'Yui Ra Kek'Zagho Terranhe." the short one continued.

-"Zaer T Dar. " the tall one finished.

Meia found herself both intrigued and annoyed by their language, as she could not understand it.

--

-"She is very small for a Terran…" Likaso announced to Yardano.

-"Yes." Yardano responded, simply nodding.

-"I do not think she speaks Terran Common." Likaso continued.

-"We are about to know for sure." the Commander finished.

The pale, tiny human seemed frustrated, Yardano noted, struggling to free herself from her gravity bonds. A futile effort, of course, as they would hold in place a creature six times her size. But alas, her fierceness impressed him.

-"I have studied her for a few hours, Commander. I would say that, all tests run, she is an adult human… Except for being two heads shorter. She is young, but she is not a child."

-"Is it some kind of mutation?" the Commander asked.

-"It is quite possible, Commander. She is human, certainly, but not the humans that we know today. She is… Far more primitive."

-"How is this possible? Does it relate to her primitive ship?"

-"I believe so. It is fully possible she belongs to a group of humans that separated from the Empire long ago, and may have gone down a different evolutionary path. They may have come in contact with the Extragalactics during this time, which could explain why she arrived through such a mysterious hyperspace window."

-"I do not believe that to be the case, Likaso." Ialkoso announced as he entered the room, -"The ship is not equipped with any sort of hyperdrive. I would say it is a bloody miracle that it survived the trip here in the first place."

-"What have you found out about the ship, Ialkoso?" the Commander asked.

-"Apart from that it has no hyperdrive, nothing I did not expect. It is very primitive, with the most advanced weaponry being some direct-energy weapons that would scratch the paint of a cargo-hauler. Otherwise it is equipped with ordnance that I would say is outdated by thousands of years… The propulsion systems are easily far more advanced than the weapons and shielding, which makes me believe it is an exploration vessel, but even so I would say that, wherever she is from, they have not possessed interstellar travel for more than a few hundred years."

-"That seems… Unlikely. But I suppose convergent evolution is possible." Likaso mused.

-"That would explain the differences between her and a normal human, I suppose." Yardano nodded.

-"Have you tried communicating with her yet, Commander?"

-"Oh, no. I was just about to, but if she has indeed come from a uniquely evolved species, I do not believe she will understand a word I am saying."

-"Try it, as Terrans say, 'For kicks', Commander." Likaso said with a slight chuckle.

--

The laughter from the shortest alien was strangely soothing, a heart-filled, beautifully deep and resounding, much like their alien voices always echoed as if they spoke with two throats.

Then, to her shock, the tallest one spoke to her directly.

-"Can you understand me?"

She blinked, twitched, blinked again, and then nodded quickly, baffling the aliens just as much as they had her.

-"That is… Who are you, human? Where do you come from? Why have you come here?"

Meia tried to speak but was too shocked, simply whimpering and writhing a bit. After a short moment, the shortest one held up a small device, pressing it with his slender fingers, and the pressure on her body released.

She sprung up immediately, gasping for air. Much to her chagrin, the tallest alien, along with the one that had entered the room lastly – a golden-eyed, green-skinned alien with dirt all over his skin and his brightly yellow protective clothing – had raised their right fists towards her, and she realised that they were carrying weapons mounted on their wrists, much like the ring she used to wear. She raised her hands above her head, not wanting to die naked in some alien laboratory.

-"My name… My name is… Meia. Meia Gisborn." she stuttered, -"I c-… I come from Mejerr."

The aliens spoke amongst each-other again in their own language, as Meia simply sat dumbfounded.

-"Meia… In our tongue it means Warrior-Woman." the golden-eyed one said, -"How did you get that name?"

Meia blinked in surprise, but went on.

-"It was given to me by my parents… I don't… I don't expect they knew…"

-"Where is this Mejerr you speak of?" the golden-armored, tall one asked.

-"I… I do not know. I do not know where I am." Meia responded honestly, but had a gut feeling it wasn't what they wanted to hear.

-"You are in Zûram territory, human. You have trespassed."

-"Trespassed? Wait, Zûram? What is-"

-"We are." the tall one cut her off.

-"I… I see…" Meia stuttered, still trying to piece together everything, -"I do not… Understand. Why am I here?"

The Zûram looked at each-other, speaking in their own language briefly.

-"That is what we wish to know of you."

-"Your ship came through a strange anomaly we have never seen before." the middle-heightened one, the one with golden eyes and dirty clothes, said, -"Through studies of your ship, we have concluded it did not open the anomaly itself. How did you get here?"

-"I was… I was on a mission… A recognisance mission." Meia started, but stopped as she noticed the shortest one tapping his fingers rapidly on a small datapad. After figuring that he was writing down what she said, she continued;

-"This, anomaly as you call it… I saw a bright red light, and it… Surrounded me? That is all I remember."

The shortest one stopped tapping on the pad, looking annoyed.

-"What are you?" he suddenly blurted.

-"W-what?"

-"What are you?"

-"I… I'm a woman… I mean a human?"

-"You are far too small to be human." he grunted, -"Your clothing and equipment is not human either."

-"Cease, Likaso." the tallest one said. Meia assumed "Likaso" was the shortest one's name, -"You are not part of the Terran military, that much we have deduced. Tell us why you come to our space in an armed starfighter."

-"Terran? You mean, eh, Taraak?" Meia queried.

-"Of what do you speak?"

-"The Taraak Empire… The Empire of Men?"

Again, she seemed to have completely confused the Zûram, as they started debating with each-other in their native language.

-"We seem to be going nowhere." the tallest one announced, and promptly shoved Meia back down onto the hard bed, activating the gravity-restraints again, before all three left.

-"W-wait! Please!" Meia shouted vainly as the door shut behind them.

After a brief moment in complete silence, Meia whimpered; -"I'm thirsty."

--

-"Is she just making things up as she goes?" Yardano asked his advisors.

-"Taraak seems to derive from Terra, yes. But I did not sense lies in her." Likaso responded.

-"She speaks with an odd accent, perhaps Taraak is just her word for Terra?" Ialkoso added.

-"That seems likely…" their Commander agreed, -"But Mejerr?"

-"Evidently the name of her homeworld. We should assume it is also an alteration of a Terran planet's true name."

-"What do you suggest we do?" Likaso asked.

-"As a Terran would say, Likaso… Finders keepers." Ialkoso laughed.

End Chapter.

AN: Slightly re-edited because removed some of the symbols that I put to make translated Zûram dialogue appear differently from English dialogue. Seems it doesn't work so you'll just have to guess what is in English and what's in Zûramhe


	3. Chapter II: Knowledge

_Disclaimer; I do not own VanDread or any related trademarks. I do, however, possess creative rights to the Zûram Republic and Terran Empire, as created for the Terra Invicta universe._

**Chapter II:**** Knowledge**

Two days had passed since Meia awoke aboard the ship she now knew to be called the "_Do'Vore_". She had been moved from the isolation chamber to a proper cell, which wasn't much, but definitely better.

It was similarly white with a rounded door, but smaller, and had a bed that, to her, was enormous. The same applied to the single chair and table placed by the wall opposite the bed, and the alien toilette in a small, separate room adjacent to the cell. It had taken her seven agonizing minutes of trial and error to figure it out, and another two to actually use it because of the size. She was a very unhappy girl at the time.

She couldn't see any lights anywhere in the room, but it was always perfectly lit, except when she was to sleep, when the lights would slowly fade to let her adjust to the pitch darkness.

In this time she had learned very little about her captors, but they seemed to have learned a lot about her. Most of the past two days had been spent with the one called Likaso, who she assumed was a sort of doctor or scientist, who kept prodding and inspecting her and running uncomfortable tests on her, and jabbing her with what she by now figured was dozens of needles and other instruments.

The remainder of the days a Zûram called Kuraio would speak to her. He was taller than the others, even taller than the Commander in golden armor she had met the first day. His skin was bright grey with a faint green mottling, and his eyes were blazing golden. He usually wore a yellow cloth uniform with armored reinforcements on the limbs and upper chest.

Kuraio's size and ferocious appearance belied him, and he appeared to be a kind soul. He always spoke to Meia in a calm, calculated manner that reminder her of herself, never pushing her to answer his questions but simply convincing her to, eventually, let him know what he wanted to know. He was also the one to bring her food and water three times per day, and she assumed it was a strategy to make her feel more comfortable with him, like you feed a dog to gain its affection. It worked, she supposed.

From what she had learned, the Zûram were the leading species in a galaxy-wide nation known as the Zûram Republic, and at constant war with another nation known as the United Interstellar Terran Empire. Apparently, humans were the leading species of the Terran Empire, and most questions were regarding them.

From what Kuraio had said, the Terrans were powerful, militaristic, and aggressive, but also noble, honor-driven and courageous. Their Empire was the largest known in the universe, but the Zûram Republic had a technological advantage that kept the Terrans and the Zûram at an even field.

Apparently, many hundred years ago, the Zûram had allied with a race of people from another Galaxy, who helped them nearly defeat the Terran Empire. However the Extragalactics, as they were only known, were revealed to be savage murderers, only killing Terrans for their own pleasure, and plotting to turn upon the Zûram once the Empire had been eradicated. Upon learning of their dishonourable ways, which included murder of thousands of civilians, the use of weapons of massive-scale devastation, and the intentional sacrifice of Zûram troops, the Zûram were whipped into a rage that belied their stalwart, noble nature.

The Zûram had torn the Extragalactics to pieces, literally, and exterminated them in a horrendous crusade that also staved off defeat for their age-old enemies, the Terrans.

While since relations between the Republic and the Empire had returned to a normal state of eternal war – indeed, without the Extragalactics' numbers, the Zûram were quickly beaten back by the Terrans, only managing to hold the line once back in their own territory - they had a deeper understanding, and a greater fear for the unknown outside their Galaxy. That, Kuraio said, was the reason Meia was imprisoned so harshly – They believed her to have come from another Galaxy. And, all things that she had heard about this one, she was inclined to agree.

-"So this language… It's the Terran Common language?" Meia asked.

-"Yes. Although, your accent is very… Peculiar." Kuraio responded softly, -"And I guess, that leads me to a question my Commander asked me to deliver days ago."

-"Oh?"

-"Your accent is set vastly apart from that of Terrans. It is evident that you are not one of them, as we have established. But what we do want to know is where you come from."

-"I've already told you that I come from a planet called Mejerr, no?"

-"But you have yet to describe it." Kuraio smiled. Meia noted that Zûram smiles were, like much with them, more comforting than most, despite their alien nature.

-"Where I come from, humans sent out colony ships from their homeworld, Earth, many years age."

-"Earth?"

-"Yes."

-"I believe that, earth is another Terran word for 'soil', is it not?"

-"I think so too, yes. Why?"

-"It is believed by linguists that the word 'terra' is High Terran for 'soil' or 'earth'. Their homeworld is known as Terra, and it does not appear to be too much of a leap, does it?"

-"Well… The Earthlings I know are nothing like what you have described the Terrans to be. They cannot reproduce anymore and instead… Well, they harvest body-parts from humans living in the colony worlds, to build new bodies."

Kuraio let out a choked chuckle, spilling the water he was drinking.

-"Are you sincere?" he asked, appearing highly amused. Meia was much less so.

-"Yes." she hissed, -"They use robot-controlled, unmanned ships – That we call Harvesters – to acquire body-parts and take them back to Earth."

-"And you accept this?"

-"Of course not. Only recently a Harvest fleet was destroyed in orbit of the worlds Taraak and Mejerr, by our combined forces. I was patrolling for any signs of more ships when I was transported here, as I have told you."

-"Yes, yes you have. Please, tell me more of Mejerr and Taraak."

-"Well, uh… Alright. We have concluded that different planets were seeded with different people, to be harvested for specific body-parts. In the case of Mejerr and Taraak, this would be our uh…" she suddenly stopped, wondering to herself what to say next. Surprising herself, her cheeks flushed slightly red as she mutely pointed toward her groin. Kuraio's eyes widened, and he seemed to stifle a laugh once more.

-"That is horrifying." he announced in a mildly cheerful manner, -"Truly sickening, I say."

-"In… Any case…" Meia murmured, -"Men and women were segregated… Women on Mejerr, and men on Taraak."

Once again, Kuraio's eyes widened in surprise.

-"We were taught that men were our enemies, and even, aliens. It is only during the past year that most of us have learned the reality of it."

-"When you joined forces to combat this… Harvest?"

-"In a way, I suppose. Over the past months we have begun constructing a society to incorporate both genders but it's… Working out poorly."

-"And these, Harvesters, have not returned?"

-"Not yet… Which is why I… Well, I have to go back."

-"Until we conclude how you got here, you will sadly not be permitted to head anywhere." Kuraio said with what Meia had to think for a few seconds to conclude was the Zûram equivalent of a frown.

Kuraio left with a short bow, leaving Meia sitting alone on the floor with two half-empty glasses of water and a half-eaten slab of salted meat. Her stomach growled lowly, and she was quick to chow down on the meat, before crawling up into the – for her - oversized bed.

The Zûram had returned her face-plate, after correctly finding it to be purely ornamental, but they had given her a long dress of their own design rather than return any other of her personal affects, neither her ring – evidently, since it was a weapon – nor her flightsuit. She wasn't entirely comfortable in the dress, because like everything else the Zûram had itwas far too large for her, but she later found that stupidly enough, she felt pretty in the bright-blue garment, if a little wimpy.

--

-"What have you concluded, Kuraio?" Commander Yardano asked.

-"What she speaks of seems insane, and does not relate much at all to what we know of humans in the Galaxy. The only reasoning I can think of is convergent evolution in another Galaxy, or one of the yet unexplored portions of this one, but her ability to speak Terran Common – Even if accented – contradicts that." his second responded.

-"Commander, Kuraio." a slender woman said softly as she entered the room, brushing her bronzed armor-plating lazily with one hand.

-"Shahkasa, beautiful as ever, I see." the Commander smiled, bowing his head slightly.

-"Shoo, Commander." Kuraio laughed, reaching out and placing his right arm around Shahkasa's waist as he pulled his wife close to himself. For a moment they savoured each others company, resting their smooth foreheads against the others.

-"Kree, zra kie." they whispered in unison, before turning to Yardano again.

-"I was called here by Likaso to offer some of the Science League's theories… Unofficially, of course." Shahkasa said.

-"Oh, wonderful." Yardano responded sarcastically, -"No offence to you, Shahkasa, but I find the Galactic Science League to be…"

-"Annoying, Commander?" she smiled.

-"I was going to say 'eccentric' but that works as well." the Commander laughed.

-"I am aware that my colleagues are often difficult to deal with, but I assure you, what they lack in social skills they make up for in their respective fields of science. Now, bring me to this woman, please."

--

-"Meia" Kuraio smiled as he entered the room, beside a small Zûram in bronze armor. Meia was surprised to realise that it was a female, as she easily spotted by her long hair, ample chest and hips, smoother facial features and far more slender stature.

-"This is my _kieradosha_ – I believe the Terran equivalent is 'wife' - Shahkasa." he stated merrily. Shahkasa only smiled, bowing deeply. Meia was surprised that the Zûram had a seemingly similar marital tradition to humans, but reasoned it with that love was a universal thing for intelligent species.

-"A pleasure, I am Meia." she responded, bowing her head toward the female Zûram.

-"My _kieradosho_ has told me a bit about you, and where you are from, or more accurately, that you don't know that yourself. That is the reason I am here."

Meia frowned as she realised Shahkasa was carrying equipment similar to what Likaso had examined her with on even intervals, just more of it. She really didn't enjoy being poked, prodded and scraped with the aliens' various tools and gadgets.

With a short word in their native tongue and a brief touch of her fingers across his face, Shahkasa dismissed Kuraio, and he headed out the door, leaving the two distinctly different women alone.

-"Please, take off my dress and sit down." Shahkasa smiled. Meia blinked, confused, but then realised she was referring to the dress Meia was wearing.

-"This is yours?" she asked as she easily slipped out of the oversized garments.

-"When I was younger, my elder sister made it for me. I have not been able to wear it for close to sixty years." Shahkasa smiled as she began to examine Meia while she was still on her way to the chair, studying everything from her leg and hip movements, her skin and fingers, to her faceplate and her hair colour.

As Meia sat down, she found, much to her annoyance, that Shahkasa wasn't as respectful in her examination as Likaso was, poking and pinching her everywhere. Everywhere. It was intensely frustrating, but Meia closed her eyes and simply tried to get her mind away.

After a period of time, Meia found something was wrong, and looked down to find Shahkasa's hand cupping one of her breasts. Taken aback by this, she tried to protest but could only stammer out a short, annoyed grunt. Shahkasa looked up, blinking, and uttered a phrase in the Zûram language.

-"I apologize." she then corrected herself, -"You are just very different from humans in this Galaxy… My mind was elsewhere."

'Bet it was' Meia thought sourly, but didn't voice it. To her discomfort, Shahkasa continued down the same line of conversation.

-"You are not only smaller, but also, weaker, I suppose. The humans here have evolved into a hardy, physically powerful species, but you remain very… Unique." she whispered, running her hand down Meia's stomach to her navel. Meia was torn between feeling sick and comfortable, as the smooth, soothing warmth of Shahkasa's hands was getting to her.

Meia was just starting to feel comfortable, raising her hand to hold Shahkasa's in place when she felt a painful sting in her lower back. The pain and surprise caused her to yelp, almost bouncing out of the chair.

-"I apologize." Shahkasa said again, showing her a needle attached to a small canister.

-"I thought they had taken blood samples already…?" Meia groaned.

-"They have. I injected your bloodstream with a biological compound that will cross through your body collecting data, and then I will study it to find this data once it exits your system."

-"If it's in my blood, how is it going to-" Meia cut herself off as she felt the insides of her stomach spin like a cement mixer.

-"You will regurgitate the biological compound in approximately three hours, along with a minimal amount of blood. Please, use this." Shahkasa said gently, placing a transparent cup on the desk.

-"You could at least have warned me…" Meia grunted. Shahkasa rose, patted Meia on the head gently, and left with her equipment.

Meia simply sat curled up in front of the cup for several hours, furious. Eventually, she spat up a few drops of blood, and much to her displeasure, Shahkasa's prediction of what was to happen was very correct. Feeling drained after the effort of trying to get as much of the compound into the cup rather than on the floor, she crawled back and flopped down on the bed just before Shahkasa entered.

-"Thank you, Meia." the Zûram woman smiled, -"I hope you did not experience too much discomfort."

-"Die in a fire." Meia announced.

-"If I am ever caught within the reach of an exploding supernova, or trapped aboard a combusting star vessel, I will be sure to remember you, Meia. And put the dress back on, the room is monitored."

With this, Shahkasa left again. Meia put the dress back on.

--

-"This unidentified power source, this… She referred to it as 'Pexis'?" Ialkoso asked.

-"Yes, she did. I am not entirely certain of the pronunciation but I doubt you care much for such trivialities." Kuraio answered.

-"True so. This 'Pexis' is completely unknown to us –and- the Galactic Science League. Our studies conclude that it is not of this universe, even less of this Galaxy."

-"What are you saying?"

-"I am saying… That she did not come here from another Galaxy… She came from another dimension."

-"That is-"

-"Preposterous?" Shahkasa asked her husband.

-"Exactly the word I was going to use." Kuraio grunted.

-"I fear, my love, that you will have to accept that Ialkoso is correct. The best explanation I have for the anomalies in her system is that she truly does not belong here."

-"You are scientists, how can you make such a ridiculous claim?"

-"There is nothing supernatural about this. There are many theories supporting alternate existences-" Shahkasa began, before Kuraio interrupted her.

-"Cease, I have no desire to hear your explanations. Bring them to the Commander instead." he said, leading the two others toward the bridge.

--

-"If she is truly from another dimension, this rupture in space…" Yardano pondered.

-"Can be the key to thousands of secrets beyond our universe, yes Commander." Shahkasa said.

-"With your permission, I would like to investigate the scene and data of the incident along with Shahkasa, Commander." Ialkoso stated.

-"Permission denied, Ialkoso." the Commander grunted, -"We are going to report back to Ram within one month, we must depart from this system immedieately. We have skimmed the Terran border for too long already!"

-"But Commander-"

-"_No_! I will not endanger the lives of my crew to satisfy your curiosity, and unless you can bring me concrete evidence as to the existence of this supposed dimension, rather than theories, I will _not_ allow a member of the Galactic Science League any access to our databanks!" the Commander roared, infuriated.

-"Do you have any idea how important this could be?!" Shahkasa snapped back.

-"Commander, this discovery could turn the universe as we know it around!" Ialkoso said, the only one keeping his cool

"_That is enough_!" the Commander howled.

There was a short, intense moment, where Kuraio stepped up, bringing his wrist-device to bear towards Ialkoso and Shahkasa, his golden eyes sternly pinning them both down. Soon, the Commander spoke up again, regaining his calm.

"There is no need to threaten your wife, Kuraio, and I am confident that Ialkoso will obey the orders given him."

Slowly, Kuraio lowered his arm, and stepped back. Shahkasa looked between Kuraio and the Commander, and after a short while lowered her head deeply to apologize. Ialkoso did the same.

-"Kuraio, escort your wife to her shuttle, and return to the bridge as soon as possible so that we can get out of here."

-"Yes Commander." Kuraio responded, appearing uncomfortable as he and one of the Shah'Mei escorted Shahkasa away.

-"I apologize for my disobedience, Commander…"

-"Cease, Ialkoso. I need you to put her starship back together before we head home, I want it delivered in one piece to Ram."

Suddenly, one of the crewmembers on the bridge stood up from his chair, bashing his fist on an alarm-switch, causing the whole ship's interior to light up with flashing red.

-"A Terran starship is entering the system! It's a _Suscenseo_-class carrier, they are headed straight for us!"


	4. Chapter III: Intervention

_Disclaimer; I do not own VanDread or any related trademarks. I do, however, possess creative rights to the Zûram Republic and Terran Empire, as created for the Terra Invicta universe._

**Chapter III: ****Intervention**

-"A Terran starship is entering the system! It's a _Suscenseo_-class carrier, they are headed straight for us!" the crewman at the helm shouted.

-"Give me visual! the Commander roared, -"Shields to maximum capacity! Redirect power from our rear batteries to shields!"

-"You intend to stand your ground, Commander?"

-"No, but I want to buy us as much time as I can."

-"Redirecting forward battery energy to normalspace engines, Commander." the crewman said.

Before the Commander could respond, a booming voice was heard over the communications.

_-"This is Commander Jax Debral of the Imperial starship _Honesty's Intervention_. You are severely outgunned and already trapped within our interdiction field. Make no attempt to escape in realspace, your ship cannot outrun our starfighters."_

-"Commander Debral, this is Commander Yardano Shishival of the Republic frigate _Do'Vore K'Kor_, we have no intention of engaging your ship. This is neutral territory, and action taken here will be responded to in kind."

_-"Your ship has been skimming the edge of Terran space for some time. It means that you are either looking to trade, or to pick a fight."_

-"I assure you, Debral, I have no intention of giving you the pleasure of, how do you Terrans say it, 'rip me a new one'."

_-"I am glad to hear we do not have to spark a territorial conflict over this useless __slab of empty space. Now, what trade items do you have to offer?"_

Yardano was hard pressed at first, trying to figure out what they could afford to lose to the Terrans, that was of enough value to the Terrans simply not to attempt and take by force.

-"We have acquired an unknown vessel possessing what we believe to be extragalactic technology." Ialkoso suddenly interjected.

_-"What? Who is this?"_

-"I am Ialkoso Makdekui, chief engineer of the _Do'Vore_. I offer you this alien starfighter in exchange for supplies, and safe passage to Zûram territory."

The communications went silent for a long while.

_-"We are sending a detachment of marines to inspect this craft of yours_." Commander Debral finally said, closing the channel.

-"I thought you of all people would place the most value on the starship, Ialkoso?" the Commander asked.

-"It is primitive, and apart from the 'Pexis' there is nothing peculiar about it. Hopefully the Terrans will not notice until we have entered hyperspace. I believe that the pilot, Meia, may prove more valuable in the long run."

-"Very well. I want you to oversee the transaction."

--

Ialkoso couldn't stand humans, so he assigned his junior officer, Koroso Meptek, to negotiate with the Terran negotiator. Koroso was furious at having to deal with the humans but couldn't refuse his superior's orders.

-"I am Koroso Meptek" he began, -"and I am here to show you what valued goods we have to offer the Terran Empire."

-"I am Jalek Al Saiv" the human responded, -"and I am here to contemplate what the Zûram Republic can provide for us."

-"Now that we are past formalities, mister Al Saiv, please, sit down." Meptek said, motioning to the table they were standing around. As Al Saiv sat down, his twenty marine escorts – a full squad - positioned themselves on the other side of the large room, while thirty-six members of the _Do'Vore_'s security detail positioned themselves at every exit and along the walls as Mepte too sat down at the low table.

-"Well then, Koroso – If I may call you by first name? – what do your people ask in return for this mysterious starship?"

-"We are far from home and require supplies so that we may return to Ram. Your arrival has delayed us, so we also require hyperspace amplifiers to arrive home in time... Jalek."

-"If we provide you with enough amplifiers, can you make the trip in sufficient time with your current supplies?"

-"That would require many amplifiers. We have none remaining after a prolonged tour outside the edge of the Galactic disc…"

-"We have top-class hyperdrives on the _Intervention_, we do not need many amplifiers. We do need our food, however, which is scarce in the Rim Worlds."

Koroso turned to one of his Pah'Mei.

-"See how many amplifiers we would require for the trip, and report back here immediately."

The Pah'Mei bowed for a mere fraction of a second and vanished out the doorway just as quickly.

-"Now for this starship, what can you tell me about it?"

-"We found it adrift after a strange anomaly was detected. We suspected it to possess… Intergalactic hyperdrive technology."

-"Really? Why would you want to give up such a find?"

-"The Republic has less need for further expansion than the Empire does. If your kind can expand into other Galaxies, you will go there to fight for territory, not into Zûram space."

-"I suppose the fact that we possess a starship six times the size of yours works in our favour as well?" the human said with a smirk.

-"I had not noticed." The Zûram responded with an equivalent smirk.

The Pah'Mei returned, coming to a halt that had his boots slide on the metal flooring.

-"I apologize for the delay, Meptek. We have counted that we require sixteen amplifiers, one to begin the journey and then one per every two days in transit home." he announced.

-"Sixteen? That may take some tweaking the contract." Al Saiv said, leaning back, before suddenly bolting up from his chair, wide-eyed. Al Saiv drew his plasma-pistol, aiming it for Meptek. The marines all raised their powered-up pulse-rifles, and the Zûram Pah'Meis charged their wrist-weapons and powered their personal shields.

-"What is the meaning of this?!" Meptek roared as he too stood up.

-"Why don't _you_ tell us that?!" Al Saiv snarled, pointing with his free hand to the doorway behind Meptek and the Pah'Mei that had just arrived.

There stood a small human in the doorway, blinking in confusion. She wore a bright dress far too large for her miniscule frame, hanging loosely on her shoulders. She wore a metallic piece over a portion of her face.

Meia had never had so many weapons pointed at her at once.

-"Why is there a Terran child in chains on this ship?!" Al Saiv snarled.

-"She… She is no Terran, Jalek." Koroso stuttered, -"She is… The pilot, of the ship we discovered."

Al Saiv walked up to Meia, lowering his pistol, inspecting her carefully.

-"She's not a child… She's some sort of miniature human…"

-"Watch it." Meia growled.

The man, standing more than two meters tall, was surprised as Meia's aggressive behaviour, but took a step back.

-"I believe, Koroso, that I have found a way for you to compensate us for those sixteen amplifiers…"

--

Meia was very, very displeased.

The massive humans in blue and black armor, carrying large rifles and wearing face-covering helmets, were apparently the Terrans she had heard a lot about. She had, prior to this, felt enthusiastic about meeting the supposedly noble, courageous, advanced and civilized humans.

Now, one of the marines was carrying her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, cuffed with magnetic bonds at both her wrists and ankles, dangling helplessly.

The Terrans had seized her along with her Dread from the Zûram, and were taking her aboard their ship, _Honesty's Intervention_. While she mused that at least the humans wouldn't poke and prod her as much as the Zûram did, at least the Zûram treated her with some dignity and care.

She saw the _Intervention_ through a window aboard the Zûram ship, and found that it was truly massive, possibly more than 4 kilometers in length. According to the marine carrying her, who had casually been making remarks as he trotted along, it was a _Suscenseo_-class carrier vessel, with a complement of over 8000 starfighters and two small frigates, both the size of the Zûram vessel she was leaving.

Much like the Zûram, she found that the Terrans had an accent that was significantly more articulate than the one she was used to. She figured that's what Kuraio meant by herself having a 'peculiar accent'.

Unlike the bright, smooth interior of the Zûram ship, the interior of the Intervention brought her mind to the interior of Taraak vessels, where everything was bulky, darkly grey, and practical, with little attention to aesthetics. Unlike common Taraak design however, everything was massive, even in comparison to the Terrans themselves.

Wide, high-roof corridors lined with massive blast-doors was the only thing Meia saw for a good fifteen minutes. Bumpy fifteen minutes.

Eventually the marine carrying her departed from the rest of his squad, heading to a brightly lit room with plentiful odd-looking devices.

-"Transport to brig seven." the marine said to another human, a female, standing by a console.

-"For you both?" she asked.

-"Yes." he responded simply, stepping up on to a platform. To Meia's displeasure, the feeling of being torn apart by the molecules that she had experienced in the anomaly returned as she and the marine were engulfed in white light.

Before she knew it, the light faded, and she felt her body return to normal within a millisecond. Blinking, she was then roughly carried down the ramp again. It wasn't until she saw the operator, who was suddenly a man, that she realised she had been teleported somewhere else on the ship.

The marine headed out of the transporter room and into a large junction, heading left, then right, to a smaller door. Opening it, he unceremoniously dumped her on the floor.

-"There will be an officer here to see you in a few minutes. Just sit tight." the marine said. Meia quickly drew parallels between the marine's mildly pleasant behaviour and Kuraio, as he bent down and removed the cuffs from her hands and legs, before leaving.

The cell was significantly smaller than the Zûram one, as was the furniture. The bed was clothed in dark grey colours, and extremely uncomfortable. There was a small metal chair, and a similar small table. To her comfort, the bathroom seemed better designed for humans.

After a short while, the door swooped open, and a young man with short-cut black hair stepped in. He was wearing a very plain uniform, darkly blue with a large swathe of cloth lapping over the front, and with a single small gold stripe along his left neckline.

-"I am Lieutenant Skaara Kerdim of the Ninth Fleet, Sixteenth Legion."

-"Meia Gisborn." she grunted in response.

He slowly wandered up to her, inspecting her intently before reaching out, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to her feet. She whimpered a protest but stepped into the middle of the cell. He circled her, continuing to inspect her appearance while tapping on a similar datapad that the Zûram had used the first day. For some reason, she had a strong feeling of déjà-vu.

-"Where are you from?" he asked.

Confirming her annoyed expectations, Meia raised her voice slightly in an uncharacteristic manner, straining herself not to yell at him.

-"The Zûram have asked me these questions for days… I'm sure with your big ship you can convince them to lend you a few of their datapads…?"

The man smirked.

-"We have all the data the Zûram gathered already." he said casually, continuing his unnerving strolling, -"But we find that Zûram methods of interrogation are… Inadequate."

Lieutenant Kerdim pulled a long, silvery handle out of his bag. With a flick of his thumb, the device sprung three long, thin metallic wires out of the end. As he lifted the device, the wires began moving around, scanning the area around them like three serpents looking for prey.

Meia realised that she should've seen this one coming.


End file.
